In conventional meat processing operations, loins, such as beef loins, are trimmed to remove a layer of fat that covers the outer surface of the loin. The loins are trimmed to a final customer-defined end point, which may be, for example, about ¼ inch commonly for beef. This trimming operation may commonly be performed manually. Each cut of loin starts with a varied amount of fat cover. Thus the trimming operation is not only labor intensive, but also requires a human assessment of where to remove the fat and how much to remove.
Some equipment may exist that is able to automate the trimming process. However, such equipment likely still requires an operator to assess how much fat needs to be removed from each cut. This cut-specific information is then entered into the automated equipment for each cut. Moreover, such equipment is likely not able to accommodate bone-in products, such as bone-in strip loins and/or bone-in short loins.